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Destiny

from SyrianamericanA by Omar Offendum

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about

Official Music Video -- www.vimeo.com/13079872

lyrics

Chorus:

You are my ...
(Destiny)
its hard livin in the West - when I know the East got the best of me ...
(Destiny)
could be lookin in my eyes - but you'll never really see the rest of me ...
(Destiny)
can you hear me "maseeri" (my destiny)? ... bi-lingual's what im blessed to be ...
(Destiny)
7amamet Salameh - ifta7ee ajni7atikee oo 6eeree
(dove of Peace - spread your wings & fly)

Verse 1:

وين الوعي - وين؟ 
امشوا معي هين 
وادي بين الجبلين 
عين حب للطرفين
أمهاتنا حبت ذاتنا 
بس مو عاجبهن مسباتنا
هذا الحكي بين اخواتنا 
زين العرب والأمريكان
وألله يرحم كل أمواتنا 
أغاني 
'مثل 'المهاتمة
إذا قلنا: العين بالعين
ما صفى عندنا عيون بالشام
بلاد الشام 
من فلسطين إلى جبال لبنان 
قبل ما اخترعوا الحدود
من الإسكندرون إلى كردستان
فهمان؟ 
جنجس خان ما خان قد ما خانونا أولاد العم
بس دمنا دمهم . . . 
بني أدم - بنو ذنمبهم 
على أكتافنا - شلنا همهم 
ليه؟ 
الله بيعلم . . . 
بس ليك هذا الفتيش والبسكليت
احسنلك من ١٠٠٬٠٠٠٬٠٠٠ مسدس 
تعرف ليه؟ 
لأن مو عاجبهم بسمتك
بس إبتسم برسمتك
شابٌ عربيٌ ومثقف
أعطيهم ختمتك
وإذا لسة مو راضين
(ذكرهم بكلام ' إيليية (أبي ماضي
' نسي الطين ساعةً أنه طين ' 
وهذه هي . . .

القضاء والقدر يا حبيبي 

(English translation)
Consciousness? What consciousness - where is it?
Take a walk with me 
Here - in this valley between two "mountains"  
where the source of love for both "sides" can be found
our mothers like us - but dont like our foul language 
so lets keep this between the siblings
the best of Arabs & Americans
and may God have mercy on all our dead
Songs i sing like the Mahatma  ("aghani-d" means these songs ... which sounds like Ghandi & in turn relates to the next quote)
If we say 'an eye for an eye'
there wont be any eyes left in Sham 
Bilad al-Sham (i.e. greater syria ... since "Sham" refers to Damascus ... but "bilad al-sham" means Greater Syria ... the distinction is made for the sake of unity across borders)
from Palestine to the mountains of Lebanon
before they made up these borders 
from Iskandaroon to Kurdistan - understand?
Genghis Khan never deceived us quite like our "paternal cousins" (Khan also means deceive in arabic)
but our blood is their blood 
children of Adam 
who built their sins
upon our shoulders
we carried their burden
why?
God knows
but listen, this little firecracker & bicycle are better for you than 100 million guns - wanna know why?
because they dont like seeing you smile
but smile you will - in your human being
a young cultured/educated Arab male - give them your stamp of approval
and if they still dont accept you then remind them of the words of Elliye (Elliye Abi-Madhee is a famous Lebanese poet who wrote a poem that started with the following words)
"How soon a piece of dirt can forget that that is all he/she really is ... just dirt"  (i.e. we are all from this earth & will come back to it ... so there is no logic in viewing yourself as better than someone else)
and that my friend is ...
our Destiny

Chorus:

You are my ...
(Destiny)
its hard livin in the West - when I know the East got the best of me ...
(Destiny)
could be lookin in my eyes - but you'll never really see the rest of me ...
(Destiny)
can you hear me "maseeri" (my destiny)? ... bi-lingual's what im blessed to be ...
(Destiny)
7amamet Salameh - ifta7ee ajni7atikee oo 6eeree
(dove of Peace - spread your wings & fly)

Verse 2:

i write right to left ...
you write left to right ...
metaphor of a foreigner's plight...
dressed to type...
stereo & a mic...
scenario of a fight...
the burial of a white...
imperial at his height's...
a Turkish Rapper's Delight
semetic etiquette might
just have you rollin your "R's"
poetic & light
and grab a hold of your sorrows
to relieve your tomorrows
make it easier to borrow
the aesthetics you bite
like all the Arabic loanwords
from Spaniards & Morros
the Karma of Inquisition
visions of horror
so who's the Explorer?
really was it Columbus?
Muhammad al-Idrisi or Alfaragnus
throw a Hobson Jobson
while you figure it out
im gonna start with a cipher
thats a "siffir" (zero) - no doubt
see you might not have learned to live with me
but sure as hell can't without

Chorus:

You are my ...
(Destiny)
its hard livin in the West - when I know the East got the best of me ...
(Destiny)
could be lookin in my eyes - but you'll never really see the rest of me ...
(Destiny)
can you hear me "maseeri" (my destiny)? ... bi-lingual's what im blessed to be ...
(Destiny)
7amamet Salameh - ifta7ee ajni7atikee oo 6eeree
(dove of Peace - spread your wings & fly)

Verse 3:

see 3arab shootin at each other
from iraq to falasteen
syria to libnan...algeria to sudan
pedagogy of the oppressed, tricklin' down...
conquerin' through divisions
& sadly this isn't the first time...
one land - one love - one chance - one blood
no fuss, no fight...yeah right young blood
AK's cheaper than a book
crooked leaders in a hook
gettin' fished out
missles gettin' dished out...
bitched out by the West
press get a big shout
from the people gettin' rich out of this (bout)...
now what's this really all about...
land - money - or power?
it was the colonizer's fault
but now it's really just ours...
leavin' a sour tase in our mouths...
like generational slave names
whenever speakin out
out-spoken leaders gettin taken out
quicker than belligerent drunks in a bar...
we a far cry from livin' as one...

credits

from SyrianamericanA, released July 4, 2010

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about

Omar Offendum New York, New York

Omar Offendum is a rapper, spoken word poet, and theatrical storyteller. He was named a Kennedy Center Citizen Artist and Arab America Foundation "40 Under 40" award recipient. His off-Broadway hit production "Little Syria" has sold out venues across America - including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music, CAP-UCLA, and Joe's Pub at The Public Theater in NYC. ... more

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